Apple has begun gathering its own data about the U.S. road network, rather than buying this information from other companies. The goal is to significantly improve Apple Maps.
This app was a disaster when it launched 6 years ago, and although there have been significant improvements, it has been the butt of jokes ever since. Apple wants to change that.
Apple is set to begin using its Apple Maps minivans to collect mapping data in Japan later this year, the company has revealed.
Apple is due to begin carrying out surveys of Tokyo and Urayasu between June and October, marking the eleventh country that Apple has used its vehicles to collect data in. Previously, Apple’s map vehicles have collected data in Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., and, of course, the United States.
Good luck finding your way with Apple Maps today.
The service is suffering a widespread outage that is preventing many users from using search or directions. The problem seems to be affecting iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac users around the world, but Apple says all services are operating normally.
UPDATE: As of Friday afternoon, whatever the earlier problem was, this service appears to be working normally again.
Despite Apple Maps being found on every iPhone and iPad, Google Maps has a few big advantages.
One thing helping Google Maps’ visibility is the fact that it can be easily embedded into websites. That means that if you’re using a website to navigate to, say, an Airbnb online, there’s a good chance you’ll be directed to Google Maps. But Apple is taking steps to change all that.
Apple Maps was a laughingstock when it launched, but it’s come a long way since then. Now Apple has been given approval to further improve the service using drones.
As part of the U.S. Transportation’s new drone program, Apple is allowed to capture images of North Carolina using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This will allow it to enhance its mapping services with more detailed images.
Apple Maps can now help you find a healthier and more environmentally-friendly ride. A new partnership with Ito World allows you to locate bike sharing stations in more than 175 cities across 36 countries. Simple search “bike sharing” now to get going.
One of the iOS 11 features you may not know about is that Apple now offers indoor mapping support for a growing number of international airports and malls.
While the number of airports and malls covered is still relatively small — with 34 airports, mostly based in the U.S., and a handful of shopping malls — Apple has published a list of where these are located.
Apple’s digital assistant is under new management.
Along with updating its corporate leadership page to include its two newest VPs, Apple also revealed that it has replaced Eddy Cue as Siri’s boss and given the task over to software VP Craig Federighi.
It used to be that when you got back from vacation, you’d drop your film off at the lab and cross your fingers. You hoped you’d get some half-decent photos back a week later, while memories of that cool restaurant you liked faded with your tan.
Now we share our photos with friends and family while we’re still on the beach, then forget about them. But we can, and probably should, make a little effort to preserve our vacation memories. And — you guessed it — there are apps for that.
Ever wonder what it feels like to be a Godzilla-sized monster traipsing around the skyscrapers of New York City? Well, with iOS 11 now you can.
Apple has subtly added a cool new virtual reality mode in Apple Maps with the release of iOS 11 that lets users explore 3D models of some of the world’s most popular cities. The new feature is powered by Apple’s new ARKit, allowing you to walk around your house and tilt your phone camera around to visit different parts of the city.
Watch the crazy new feature in action:
The operating system that powers the iPhone has undergone radical changes since Apple launched the device 10 years ago.
As part of Cult of Mac’s collaboration with Wired UK to mark the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, we took a look at the evolution of iOS, from a simple touchscreen operating system lacking key features into a true computing behemoth with more tools than any one user could possibly need.
Want to earn money and help out your favorite tech company? According to a new report, Apple has created a Mechanical Turk-style web app that lets people sign up and help improve Apple Maps for money.
People in the program reportedly earn about 54 cents per task (correcting or verifying a placemark in Apple Maps), with a maximum of 600 tasks every seven days. That’s about $324 per week — which is roughly in line with U.S. minimum wage for a full-time job, minus any additional benefits.
Apple finally received permission from the California DMW to test self-driving cars on public roads this week, but spotting an Apple Car in the wild won’t be easy for fans.
Instead of making its own automobile for the streets, Apple will simply be testing its autonomous vehicle software using other company’s cars. Apple has permission to drive only three cars, so seeing them on the road might be tough.
Here’s what to look for.
Finding your friends in crowded places is about to get a lot easier thanks to an upcoming feature for Google Maps that will let users share their location in real-time.
Apple’s new spaceship campus is set to open to the public in April, but if you can’t make the drive all the way out to Cupertino, you can check out the new site on Apple Maps.
Apple is set to unveil big changes for the iPhone at WWDC 2017 and one feature that could definitely use some improvements is the lockscreen.
In a new concept design that imagines some potential lockscreen upgrades, Matt Birchler shows how a few very simple changes could make the lockscreen feel totally new.
Apple’s digital assistant is great at finding information for all sorts of things. But when it comes to hookers, Siri is the world’s worst pimp.
Thanks to a glitch with Siri, iPhone users in Toronto looking for prostitutes keep getting routed to an bar in Little Italy. There’s just one problem. The owner insists his bar is definitely not the place to find a call girl.
Apple gave developers their first look at the next big update for iOS 10 yesterday, and it packs a surprising number of new features.
The public will have to wait a few weeks (or months) to get their hands on the new goodies packed inside iOS 10.3, which brings improvements for AirPods, iPads and more.
Here are all the new additions coming soon to iOS devices near you.
Apple plans to use a combination of drones, indoor mapping and other smart tech to improve its Apple Maps service, claims a new report.
Employing drones could help Apple catch up with industry leader Google. The search giant has routinely outpaced Apple on mapping technology ever since Cupertino entered the space with its (initially disastrous) Apple Maps in 2012.
Much like Google offers personalized searching, macOS Sierra delivers location-based tips as part of its suggestions within Spotlight, Siri, Safari and Maps. That means Apple will try to recommend relevant services within your immediate vicinity.
If you don’t want this feature, however, there is a way to get rid of it. Check out our guide below to show how to do this — and how to turn it back on again if you change your mind.
Finding an awesome spot to eat has always been easy on the iPhone. But iOS 10 makes it super-simple to book a restaurant reservation in Apple Maps.
With the new third-party app extensions in Maps, users can now reserve a table without ever leaving the Maps app. Just find the spot you want to dine at, and with a few extra taps you’ll be on your way to a fine dining experience.
Book a reservation in seconds with these steps.
Could a Harry Potter-style “Marauder’s Map” help give Apple a leg up on rival mapping services by offering indoor directions as well as outside ones?
That’s the working theory behind a new U.S. patent published today, which describes a “Visual-Based Inertial Navigation” system, explaining how accurate indoor directions could given on a smartphone or VR headset down to an accuracy of centimeters.
The release of Apple Maps with iOS 6 was so disastrous it led to the firing of Scott Forstall, former SVP of iOS, and to a rare public apology from CEO Tim Cook.
Almost four years on, Maps is in a very different place. Apple has worked hard to iron out the kinks and add new features that help the service compete with rivals like Google Maps. But is Apple Maps still the laughing stock of maps apps?
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fights as we battle it out over the state of Apple Maps.
In a new wide ranging interview, Apple’s senior VP of internet software and services, Eddy Cue, revealed how the company fixed a lot of mistakes it made with the launch of Apple Maps in 2012 by utilizing data from the hundreds of millions of iPhones around the globe.
Cue and Apple software chief Craig Federighi sat down to talk about the troubles with Apple Maps, the difference between working for Tim Cook and Steve Jobs, Apple’s competition with Facebook and Amazon and learning from failure.
Apple’s decision to open up macOS and iOS for public betas was inspired by the company’s horrible experience with the iOS Maps debacle in 2012, according to a new interview with Tim Cook, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi.
One of the most notorious botches in Apple history, Maps’ problems ranged from depicting horribly warped landscapes to directing folks visiting the airport in Fairbanks, Alaska, to drive across one of the taxiways. And it changed Apple’s culture in the process.